The Carousel
by HolleyGeek
Summary: What happens when Skye insults Ward, Ward accidentally hurts Skye's feelings and neither of them will admit how they feel. Rated T just in case. SKYE/WARD mainly but some FITZ/SIMMONS and small mention of PHILINDA
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Marvel's Agents of Shield Nor any of its characters

Sorry this chapter is a bit long, I got a bit carried away. The next chapters will be slightly shorter

First ever fanfic so any mistakes are mine and I sincerely apologise for them

* * *

"You're what!" Skye Exclaimed

"Dating" Fitz said for what felt like the hundredth time in the last five minutes, rolling his eyes towards Simmons who just smiled gently back. They had finally revealed their relationship to Skye after 3 months of pretending to watch TV together in Jemma's bunk (Well it wasn't always pretending, it started off as that) and she was facing them now with her mouth wide open as a goldfish. They both knew that she would be dramatic, which is one of the reasons they decided to tell her first before coming clean to the team. They figured it would help their cause if they decided to save the rest of the team's eardrums.

"Is that even allowed? I mean obviously its fine with me I have waited for this moment ever since I met you guys, but isn't there some stupid rule that S.H.I.E.L.D. has for co-workers dating?" Skye was worried that her favourite people on the bus would be split up and she would have to deal with one of them crying all the time and begging to the other to return, and who knew how Jemma would react?

"Actually no believe it or not" Jemma politely explained "It turns out that it happens all the time, with so many people being together for extended periods of time and next to no social life on the outside, so S.H.I.E.L.D. has just accepted it. As long as it doesn't interfere with the professional relationship. Many agents have even gone on to have children together"

Skye breathed a sigh of relief, no moping in the foreseeable future. Although she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. She had very little in the way of solid relationships in her life given her past and seeing as Miles, who turned out to be a total jerk, was now gone from her life permanently she didn't have anyone outside the little family she had fallen into. Now that FitzSimmons were officially together and Coulson and May were, whatever the hell they were, she felt like she was a little on her own again, so soon after getting used to being around other people all the time. Of course there was Ward but he doesn't really count as Human in her eyes.

"Don't worry Skye I am sure you will find someone" Jemma's statement dragged Skye back from her thoughts and she looks up to see them both staring at her as if she was a puppy Labrador. "Take those looks off guys, I am fine" She said stubbornly. She was fine, she wasn't jealous she was completely happy for them and in no way wishing she had someone. "Jemma's right Skye, of course you will find someone, you're gorgeous so it will be easy" Fitz mumbled now focusing on settling one of the dwarves down. Both Skye and Jemma shot him glares that Melinda May would have been proud of and he looked up at them, going a very dark shade of red and mentioned something about leaving something in his bunk. Jemma giggled as he left the room "it was a compliment don't worry, it helps to make him think he's in trouble, stops him getting lazy"

"Jemma Simmons, knows how to make a man jump, I would have never guessed that" Skye beamed proudly at the girls she had come to know as her best friend "But seriously Jemma I am so happy for you, you two belong together. Who else knows apart from me?"

"No one actually, we decided to tell you first. We're telling the rest of the team later at dinner, everyone is usually in a good mood by then. Not that it matters as I am sure everything will be fine but it helps on our end, it does feel like I am telling my parents when it comes to May and Coulson." Jemma started to busy herself with her work. Skye jumped up onto one of the counters, knowing Fitz would hit the roof if he saw her, but she figured she could get away with anything now being the best friend of his girlfriend. Jemma looked up at her friend and smiled sadly "I do feel bad though Skye, I'm here flaunting my happy relationship and I know you must be feeling lonely, especially since Miles is gone now" That name still gave Skye a headache, she hadn't really come to terms with what he had done to her and it had taken a while to get things back to normal on the bus "Trust me Jem, I couldn't care less about him. I would pick you guys over him any day after what he pulled. Besides I'm not lonely, I get male companionship for at least three hours a day"

"That's training with Ward and a highly doubt that counts, unless you want that to count" Jemma raised an eyebrow at Skye who started to go red. This wasn't the first time Jemma had tried to get it out of Skye that she had feelings for Grant and she wasn't going to give up yet. "Simmons not again" Skye moaned "I've told you before I don't have feelings for Ward, he is my S.O and sort of my friend depending on what mood he is in that day and nothing more" Jemma wasn't buying it, it was the same reply she had gotten every time she had asked what was going on there and it was starting to sound rehearsed. "Oh come on your not even a bit intrigued by Grant?"

"Ok I will admit that he is an incredibly good-looking man and I am sure once the stick is removed from his anal region he is a very nice guy. And I will admit he is very hot when he's managed to, despite my best efforts before you get any ideas" Skye jumped off the counter and looked Simmons in the eyes "when he pins me to the mat after the combat training. But other than he is too stubborn, too closed up, too moody and way too robotic for my liking. He needs to learn to loosen up and have a little fun otherwise he's going to end up alone married to his job" Skye breathes heavily after her speech realising that she spoke a little too loudly and fast to appear not bothered by Grant's spiky personality. Jemma looks at her eyes wide as if imitating an owl and starts coughing to get Skye's attention. Suddenly the hairs stand up on the back of her neck as it dawns on her that she and Jemma are not alone in the room "How long have you been standing there?" She turns slowly as red as a tomato to see a furious looking Grant Ward standing right behind her. "we need to work on your awareness Rookie" He states flatly, even though his eyes are black with anger "Mission briefing in 5 minutes" And with that he turns and walks away from them leaving Jemma looking incredibly guilty and a bright red Skye stunned into silence "I guess that answers how long he was standing there" She finally manages to whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thankyou so much for your kind words in the reviews. I was very nervous about posting this and im really surprised with the response _

_I do not own Marvel's Agents of Shield or any of its characters_

* * *

"Look Grant, please slow down, let me explain" Skye yelled as she ran up the spiral staircase after him. He continued to stomp over to the briefing room, completely ignoring her. She caught up to him and grabbed his arm "Grant please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it I was just frustrated" Her voice started to waver as she felt the sting of potential tears in the back of her eyes. He span round, with Skye's hand wrapped gently round his wrist still. His eyes said it all, she had noticed it before when the berserker rage took hold of him, his normally chocolate eyes went almost black and seeing him like that sent a shiver down her spine. "I am truly sorry, Simmons was just asking all kind of questions that I didn't want to answer and then I started talking and couldn't stop and I really didn't mean to upset you" Skye could feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes as she dropped her arm back to her side. Ward moved towards her slightly, he was really starting to scare her "You think that you've upset me? Don't flatter yourself Skye, I have bigger things to think about than what you think of me" He spat, his tone doing nothing to convince Skye that he didn't care "This may be hard to believe, but not everybody cares what comes out of your mouth and you need to stop thinking of yourself as the most important person on this team"

Skye stood in shock, tears rolling down her cheek as she watched Ward walk away from her to the briefing room. She couldn't believe what he had said to her. She didn't think for a second that she was the most important person on the team but she couldn't help but wonder if he was speaking for the rest of the team or just for himself. All she knew was she suddenly felt very alone.

* * *

_Later that night_

"Skye your very quiet" Skye looked up to see a concerned looking Simmons

"Yeah I guess I'm just nervous about tomorrow" Skye smiled weakly returning her gaze to the meal in front of her. Coulson had told the team that there would be a two man operation into Northern Russia concerning a piece of Chitauri tech that was being held in a compound in an extremely remote area. Coulson had said that the mission was fairly low risk, and picked Skye and Ward to go in. Neither of them had refused but the tension in the room said it all. Coulson had noticed the iciness between the pair but had decided to deal with it later.

"I wouldn't be putting you in if I didn't think you were capable Skye" Coulson said putting a hand on her shoulder "It will be good training for you, we will be with you on comms the whole way and you will have Agent Ward with you" Skye looked up at him and smiled. It felt good to hear the team say that they were behind her, but what Ward had said earlier had hit her hard. What if they were just sending her in with no extraction like they did with Fitz and Ward just so they could get rid of her? She didn't want to let herself believe that they would do that to her but she couldn't get Ward's voice out of her head.

Simmons looked at her friend sitting opposite her. She could tell something was wrong but she knew Skye well enough now to know when she was ready to talk about it, she would come to her "Ok guys if everyone is done with their food, I would like to say something" Jemma decided to completely change the subject to ease the pressure on Skye "Fitz and I have wanted to tell you guys for a while but we wanted to make sure that it was definite"

"And that it wouldn't interfere with the rest of the team" Fitz added, taking Simmons hand in his and giving it a light squeeze

"I guess what we're trying to say is that Fitz and I are…"Jemma started to say before getting cut off

"Dating" Coulson said with a hint of a wicked smile

"Have been for about three months" added May

"Shortly after our mission into South Ossetia" nodded Ward

The scientists stood there, moving their mouths but with no noise actually coming out. Eventually Fitz managed to stutter "H-how? I mean….we were….and you didn't…..How?" they looked at each other in shock. They thought they had been really clever. Going to Jemma's bunk after everybody else was asleep, acting like nothing was going on; that could have fooled anyone. And Fitz could have sworn he had erased the footage of what happened in the lab.

"Let's just say the next time you hide something, try not to be on a plane with three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents" Coulson chuckled and walked up to the pair "I am very happy for you both, Just make sure it doesn't interfere with your professional relationship"

"Yes sir" They said in unison. Skye smiled at this, at least they were still the FitzSimmons that she knew, and she was glad that wouldn't change.

"I am happy too" May said, showing no evidence of that emotion on her face "Just don't have sex in my cockpit" With that she walked off in the direction of the aforementioned room leaving Simmons coughing/choking and Fitz going so red, you could have fried an egg on his cheek.

They looked at each other and shrugged. They were happy it had gone so well but were a little disappointed that they hadn't gotten away with keeping their relationship secret. They felt quite proud of themselves, acting like secret agents, creeping around and pretending everything was normal. Fitz put his arm round his girlfriend who was chuckling to herself now and applied a light kiss to her forehead.

Skye giggled to herself, even though they had now admitted they were dating, it was still weird to see them like this. It was adorable and she couldn't help but wish that she had that in her life. She had a sort of family now but she couldn't help but wish she had someone to call hers. For some reason without realising she looked over to Ward. He stood against the kitchen counter with his arms folded looking back at her but almost as if he was looking through her. Skye started to feel the tears sting the back of her eyes again and she excused herself to her bunk before she burst into tears in front of everyone. Jemma ran after her, unable to give Skye her distance anymore, leaving a stunned Fitz and Coulson looking at where both girls had just run off to. Coulson span round to face Ward, with a look that could rival Thor's thunder. "Agent Ward, my office, now" and walked away with an equally angry looking Ward following behind him.

"I'll guess I'll go and check on Skye then" Fitz said to himself, standing awkwardly in the empty kitchen area.


	3. Chapter 3

Slighter quicker update this time as I just wanted to keep writing

So quick catch up, Skye has upset Ward who is lashing out at her because of it and being really horrible to her. FitzSimmons have come clean about their relationship, and Coulson has decided to find out what is going on with Ward and Skye

I do not own Marvel's agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any of its characters

* * *

"Ward can you please explain to me what the hell is going on" Coulson's voice grew louder as he started talking "I've got you sulking around the bus and Skye in tears and quiet. I know something is really wrong when Skye is quiet. You are her S.O and you should be helping her, now start talking"

Coulson slammed his fist down on his desk as he sat down, Ward had never seen him so angry before and wondered where this was coming from. "Sir I believe that this is a private matter between myself and Skye" Ward stood his ground, he wasn't in the mood for talking about his issues with Skye with anyone, even if it was his boss. He was trying not to let on how much what he had said had hurt him but it had hit him so hard that he was having a hard time letting it go. "It's not a private matter when I can hear you and Skye shouting at each other in the middle of my plane Agent Ward" Ward froze, he hadn't realised that anyone else was there during their confrontation earlier, he knew what he said to Skye was out of line, even considering what she had said about him. He hadn't meant to be so spiteful it was just in the heat of the moment. He knew he could apologise to her and blame it on the berserker rage, he'd done that before, but this time he felt like it wouldn't be enough. He was still angry at her but upon reflection after everything she had put up with him recently he wasn't surprised she had become frustrated.

"Yes Agent Ward I heard what you said to her and in all honesty I'm not surprised she's upset. I understand that she said something unkind to you but Skye rarely means what she says and as her S.O you should know that. However what you said to her is unforgiveable. Now I want you to go to her and sort it out. She's on her first mission tomorrow and she's going to need you, we cannot afford any distractions. You're dismissed"

"Sir maybe May would be better on…"

"You're dismissed Agent Ward" Coulson glared at him and waited for him to leave. Coulson had developed a fatherly soft spot for Skye as he had found out more about her incredibly difficult life and felt that she needed someone to stick up for her. Ward walked out the room feeling incredibly guilty and confused, he didn't mean to be so spiteful and Coulson was rarely dramatic so it must have sounded worse than he had meant it to. He couldn't get a nagging thought out of his head, why did what she say about him and the way he treated her bug him so much. It was a bad situation he knew, and what he said had been horrible, but there was something more.

_Meanwhile in Skye's Bunk_

Jemma was sitting on Skye's bunk, cradling the crying agent in her arms. She had just listened to everything that had happened between Skye and Ward and even though she hadn't shown it, she was shaking with rage inside. She couldn't believe that Ward would say such things to Skye. What made her so furious was that he had manage to convince Skye that the team didn't really care about her. He had taken advantage of Skye's insecurities and fear of being abandoned from her life at the orphanage and it was cruel. Jemma had sent Fitz in search of ice cream and cookies as he was trying to be helpful and had ended up making things worse. There was a knock on the door, so she let go of Skye and poked her head round the door and saw Ward looking slightly less angry then he had done earlier. Jemma slid out the room without opening the door properly so Skye couldn't see who it was.

"What the hell do you want Ward" Jemma spat, she could be surprisingly forceful when she wanted to, which shocked Ward who was used to her usually sweet demeanour. "I just wanted to talk to her Simmons"

"Well you can't. Go torture someone else"

"Come on just two minutes" Ward pleaded, even though he hadn't mean to encourage the stereotype, he had gotten used to being seen as the protector and he didn't enjoy being treated as the villain at the moment, even if he had deserved it

"No, you can't have two minutes, you have no idea how much you hurt her Ward" Jemma starting physically shaking, doing all she could not to find something to throw at him "You made her believe that we didn't care about her, that we were sending her tomorrow to get rid of her"

"What? I never said that to her, I just…"

"I know exactly what you said to her Ward. And don't you think she heard plenty of that growing up from her foster families, you know the ones that constantly gave her up"

Ward's mouth dropped open. He hadn't even considered that his words would do that and his legs felt like they would collapse under him. He was no better than many of the idiotic families who had decided she wasn't a good enough fit for them. He had never meant to do that to her, no matter what she thought of him, she had been through so much growing up and didn't deserve that.

"Good you finally realised then" Jemma turned round and went back into Skye's Bunk leaving Ward in the hallway. He slid down to the ground and put his head in his hands. He needed to make things right with Skye, whether she realised it or not, she was very important to him and he cared about her, more than he let himself admit.

_The next morning_

After a couple of hours of waiting outside Skye's bunk to see if she would come out, he had decided to try and get some sleep. They did have a mission this morning after all. He pulled a t-shirt on and walked out over to the kitchen area where Skye was getting a bowl of cereal together. Her eyes were puffy and she was sniffling as if she hadn't been crying that long ago.

"Sorry I'll leave" She looked at the floor and began walking off to the lounge. Grant grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the kitchen. "Skye listen I want to talk about yesterday" Grant pleaded "You were right I was upset about what you said and I had no right to say those things to you" He could see her eyes were beginning to water and the sight of her like this made his chest ache "You are important to this team and you're important to…" Skye put her free hand up to stop him, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"Forget it, Agent Ward, we're good, let's just get to work" She walked off and Grant let go of her arm. Clearly they weren't good, not that he had expected her to just forgive him but he wanted things to just go back to normal. He hated to admit it, but he missed her infectious laughter and bubbly personality. More than anything he missed the sarcasm and sometimes defensive things she would come out with. He hated seeing her so quiet and dejected. He hated himself for being the cause of unhappiness and he had come to know that when she referred to him as Agent Ward like that it was never a good sign.

"Ok so we will drop you in the nearest airfield possible and you can take the SUV to get to the site" Coulson said as Skye and Ward prepared for their mission "You will need to park up somewhere secluded and make the rest of the way in on foot"

"What you're looking for is a Chitauri weapon which is located in the ground floor of the compound. Skye you should be able to hack the security system to open the doors" Fitz said showing the layout on the holo-com

"You will need to place it very carefully into this box and then you will have precisely 3 minutes before they realise to get out of the building" Simmons finished. Skye suddenly felt very nervous, she knew that it seemed simple but if there was one thing she had come to realise in this job, is that it never was as simple as it looked. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Ward trying to look reassuring. She shuffled away and returned her gaze to the Science twins, who looked nervously at each other and continued explaining the details of the mission. Ward looked sadly at his rookie. Well not his, he kept doing that and couldn't work out why. She wasn't his, at the moment she wanted nothing to do with him. "At this rate, she would never be his in any sense" he thought to himself, mentally kicking himself at the same time for allowing to think something so ridiculous.

"Ward" Coulson snapped at him, dragging him out of his thoughts "You have anything to share or are you ready to do your job"

"Yes sir" Ward stood to attention, he hadn't appreciated the way Coulson had been treating him over the Skye issue but he understood that at the moment, he had no right to argue back.

A little while later it was just Ward and Skye alone driving towards the compound in the black SUV. Skye hadn't said a word since they left the airfield, she had her eyes focused on the road in front, but Ward could tell from the particularly tight grip she had on the gun she had been given just before they left the bus "It's ok that your nervous, just remember what you learnt in training and hope you don't have to use it" Ward said desperately trying to break the silence "But don't be afraid to use your training if the situation calls for it, you are more than capable Skye"

"Yes sir" Skye said flatly never even turning to look at him. At the moment she could rival May's stoic expression. Ward would have laughed if it wasn't totally inappropriate for the situation they had got themselves in.

"Skye please can we talk about what happened?" Ward pleaded. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to make things right with her

"I believe we are on the clock sir" Skye looked at him this time, echoing words he had once said to her. The upset and hurt had gone from her eyes and had been replaced by emptiness. Ward's heart broke seeing her like this and knowing that he was the cause. "Ward let it go, focus on the mission" He heard May's voice in his ear. He saw Skye twitch, knowing she heard it to. He looked at the road ahead and felt his hands involuntarily grip the steering wheel harder. Later he would tell himself he tried, he really did, but he just couldn't. He turned the wheel, pulling over to the side of the road so they were under the cover of some trees and braked sharply.

"Ward what the hell are you doing?" Skye screamed. He could hear shouting in his year from the whole team. He pulled the ear piece out and threw it into the back seat. He was breathing heavily and could feel the surge of anger stirring up inside him. Skye's eyes widened as she saw what was happening and put her hand on his, trying to pry his fingers from the wheel "Ward calm down ok, it's just the effects of the berserker, please just calm down" He looked at her, suddenly furious with her. He had tried to apologise, he had tried to be nicer to her and she had turned away from him. He couldn't take it anymore. Skye released his hand and flattened herself against the door behind her "Ward, please calm down" There were tears starting to form in her eyes "Please. You're scaring me"

At these words Ward felt his body relax and the sight of her tears rolling down her face. Ward reached over causing her to flinch against his touch. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her towards him. He put his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. She froze for a few seconds and then relaxed into it. "I'm sorry" he whispered into her hair. Skye couldn't say anything, she wanted to, but she just couldn't. She became aware of the voices in her ear "everything's fine guys" Ward realised she was talking into her comm "we'll get on the mission now" Skye pulled away from Ward and smiled. She wasn't ready to become as close as she had been before but it was a start.

Ward went to pull out and heard two bangs, followed by the car lowering. Someone had shot at their tyres. The car doors opened and men in winter gear and carrying large guns pulled Skye and Ward out of the SUV. They knocked Ward to the ground and dragged Skye round the front of the car. She was struggling against the guy who had her arms behind her back. They started talking in Russian and the guy holding Skye started smiling at her "Oh hell no" Ward looked up to see her head-butt the guy behind her in the nose. He staggered back, blood pouring out of his nose. Ward smiled at his Rookie, quite proud of what she had managed to do. Another guard pushed her down the ground shouting in Russian at her and hit in her the head with the butt of his gun, knocking her out. "Noooooo" screamed Ward, struggling against the guards to get to her. He could see the blood trickling down her forehead and then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys, once again thank you for the amazing reviews, unfortunately I have not been able to respond to each of you but I love the feedback I get.

I am very sorry that this chapter is coming so late. I haven't been well the last couple of weeks and have just been too tired to concentrate on writing.

I've definitely got this set after The Well but I am refusing the acknowledge May and Ward as a couple, I'm hoping if I ignore it for long enough it will go away.

Hope you guys like this chapter, I'm a little unsure about it so will appreciate any feedback and I will try to respond this time

I do not own Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or its characters

* * *

"Nooooooo" They heard Ward scream in the background of Skye's comm and then nothing but static. FitzSimmons looked at each other in horror and back at Coulson who ran out of the room and into the cockpit to get May.

"Ward! Can you hear me" Fitz shouted while Jemma stood frozen to the spot. She had grown very close to Skye and Ward during their time on the bus and couldn't believe what she had just heard. She felt her legs give way and collapsed onto the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt something warm touch her face lightly and looked up to see Fitz cupping her face.

"We'll find them, I promise" Fitz reassured, sitting down on the floor and cradling a now sobbing Jemma in his arms "It's Ward and Skye, they have been through much worse". In all honesty, Fitz didn't know what was going to happen, yes Ward could protect Skye from danger but who would protect Ward? Fitz saw a blur out of the corner of his eye and saw May jump, ungracefully, into Lola. Coulson grumbled following behind and popped his head into the lab "Me and May are going after them, is Skye's bracelet still switched on?" Fitz released Jemma and ran over to the laptop

"It's intermittent, it must have been damaged, but it looks like it is sort of reading her vitals. She's still alive, hopefully that means Ward is too" Fitz shouted back "Sir what can we do from here?"

"Make sure you're ready for when we get back, more than likely we are going to have to go to an S.H.I.E.L.D. field hospital but they will need to have some medical attention when we get them on the plane"

"Coulson!" he heard May bark from the car and he jogged over to Lola and got in the driver's seat. Fitz heard the tyres screech and he returned to Jemma on the floor and pulled her into his arms. "I know your worried Jem, but they are going to need us when they come back and we need to be ready for anything. Are you going to be up for it?" Jemma nodded and wiped the tears away, leaving her eyes red and swollen

"Let's get to work" She stood up and started to zip across the lab collecting everything she would need to keep Skye and Ward alive long enough to get to a proper doctor.

* * *

Ward started to come around, his eyelids feeling like lead. He sat upright as he remembered what had happened, regretting it instantly as he felt like he was going to throw up. "Damn, must have a concussion" He muttered too himself. It was only a mild one by the feel of it and he didn't feel delirious, just very groggy. He looked around the room, he was tied to a chair which made this difficult but from what he could gather they were in a basement. Suddenly it dawned on him "Skye!" he shouted, looking for her in the darkened room. He felt something move behind him "No, it's too early for training" She moaned. She was in another chair, tied as well behind him, which he hated as he wanted to be able to look at her properly. Ward guessed that she probably had a concussion too, they did hit her really hard.

"Skye, what's my name" Ward tried to shuffle back a little.

"Horrible Mr Robot man, who insists on push ups when I'm late" She snapped "What the hell happened?" Skye lifted her head, feeling like someone had anchored her head to the ground

"We got ambushed, we must have triggered some sort of alarm or something" Ward felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach "It's my fault, I should have focused on the mission like you said, I should have listened to you" He felt Skye shuffle up to him and move her fingers round what little of his hand she could reach.

"It's not your fault Grant" It always felt so soothing when she called him by his first name "I was deliberately shutting you out to get back at you, I should have behaved better"

"You wouldn't have been feeling like that if I hadn't been so cruel to you"

"Well it's in the past now isn't it, so let's just work out how to get out of here"

"But Skye, I need you to know…."

"Ward, jeez your being more of a woman than me. Now let's think"

Ward smiled, she was starting to sound more like his rookie. He looked around but the only exit was the door which must have been guarded. His hands were tightly wrapped together. He assumed that Skye was probably in the same position. The team would have read Skye's vitals and saw that something had gone wrong by now and hopefully they were on their way.

"Well this is fun" Skye sighed "Trust me to screw up"

"Come on Skye, don't think like that" Ward tried to squeeze what he could of her hand with his fingers "I was being a brat, I couldn't deal with you hating me for what I said. I know I deserved it, believe me I hate myself right now"

"No, none of this would have started if I haven't been such a bitch towards you. I didn't mean what I said. Jemma was being pushy and I got defensive and started talking, and you know what I'm like" Skye shrugged apologetically

Ward looked puzzled "Yeah you said that before, what was she asking?" Skye went bright red, remembering her conversation with Simmons. "Well you see, it was, she thought..."

Skye trailed off as she heard the sound of the heavy door behind her opening and went very still. Ward dropped her hand and looked directly at a figure in front of him. Even in the dim light he could see a man walking into the room, followed by another holding a briefcase.

The bigger of the two put his hand on the back of Skye's chair, spinning her around so that she was sitting beside Ward. Ward glanced over to her quickly, there was dried blood on her hair from where they had hit her before. He clenched his fist at the memory, silently vowing to kill every single person he came across when they got loose. He still wasn't 100% sure why Skye made him lose control like this, but for now he was going to attribute this to his berserker rage.

Skye looked over to Ward, she could tell that he was starting to lose it and go into one of his rages, his eyes had gone almost black and she could see a vein in his neck starting to pulsate. She prayed that the team would come soon and rescue them, even though the people who had taken them deserved it, she hated seeing Ward like that and wanted to protect him, even from himself.

"Now" The smaller man finally spoke in a heavy Russian accent "Let's start with why you are on my property Agent Ward" Skye's heart lept into her throat, how the hell did they know who they were? Ward continued to glare at the man in front of him, determined to say nothing. "One more chance, why has S.H.I.E.L.D. decided to send you here, especially with your house pet" He looked over to Skye, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, this man was really beginning to piss her off. She breathed in heavily, trying to remain calm. It wouldn't end well if they were both in a rage. She saw Grant's jaw twitch again. This was not good, he had become somewhat protective of her, in a purely S.O. sense she reminded herself quickly, and knew that being called a house pet was not going to go down well. Despite this, Ward managed to remain silent, the smaller man nodded at the other, who Skye could only describe as looking like a fatter and more muscly Lurch from the Adams Family. Lurch then walked over to Ward and laid his fist into the side of his face. Skye winced, she knew that later he would say it was nothing but it had to hurt. Ward looked back at the smaller man and started speaking quickly in Russian. The man nodded and barked at Lurch who walked out of the room and stood outside the door. Even though Skye was terrified, she had to admit, listening to Ward speaking another language was quite hot "What is wrong with you, now is not a time to be thinking things like this" She mentally kicked herself. The Russian man said something to Ward in Russian and left the room.

"Where's he going" Skye whispered, not daring to encourage him to come back

"I don't know" She could hear a slight wobble in Ward's voice, he was scared, which was never good

"The next time Coulson says something is low risk, remind me to duct tape him to the ceiling" She muttered, looking back at the door, she could see the shadow of Lurch, she had decided that was his name now, through the frosted glass.

"I don't think he saw this coming" Ward clicked his jaw back in place and winced at the pain spreading through the right side of his face. Skye wished that she could make him feel better, he had been and jerk recently but he was still her friend.

"I didn't know you spoke Russian" Skye looked at him, hoping her face didn't convey just how impressed she was. Ward chuckled to himself, clearly seeing straight through her act "Being part of S.H.I.E.L.D. requires you to be multi-lingual if you're in the field, you don't where you going to be from one day to the next"

"Ah, does that mean I need to learn some languages"

"Yes but that's ok I can teach you that, once you've improved on your physical training a bit"

"Hey I'm getting much better thank you very much"

"Yes, you can successfully shoot a cartoon character" Skye stuck her tongue out at him, she only said bang once, maybe.

They had almost forgotten where they were when the man Ward had been speaking to before walked back into the room carrying a small briefcase. He placed it onto a table by the door and Skye could see the glint of glass in front of her with a metal point. Oh god, it was a needle, she hated needles. She gulped looking at Ward, unable to contain the panic in her face. He looked at her as if to say get it together and she knew that she had to look strong, but she couldn't help it.

Ward rolled his eyes, then returned his gaze to the man in front of him. He turned round holding a large needle with a clear liquid. The man looked directly at him and starting walking over towards Skye, who started shaking in her chair. Ward felt his pulse quicken once more as the man placed his hand on Skye's shoulder and turned to look at him "Now Agent Ward, I don't appreciate SH.I.E.L.D. sending its guard dog after us. However, I am the type of man who knows how to make the best of any situation presented to me" With that he looked down at Skye, who now had tears running down her cheeks. The man smirked " And since you are being so uncooperative, I will have to show your little girlfriend here what this will do" He brandished the needle and Skye whimpered, mouthing at Ward to say nothing "You lay one finger on her and I will make sure…"

"Ah ah, I don't think you are in a position to negotiate here. Now once again I ask you, what are you doing here?"

"Ward don't" Skye pleaded, looking at him with eyes similar to those of an animal who knows what its fate will be. It broke his heart to see her like this and was determined it never would get to that stage

"I'm waiting Agent Ward, you have precisely 10 seconds to answer me" Ward looked at Skye, everything in his training told him not to say anything that would compromise the security of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he couldn't let her die.

"Please, I'll tell you, just leave her alone" He pleaded. The man relaxed his grip on Skye's shoulder and smiled "Good boy now…..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Ward watched, mouth wide open as Skye got up from her chair in a blur and turned the man's arm back in on itself, stabbing the needle directly into his chest. He collapsed to the floor where Skye proceeded to slam the heel of her boot straight into the side of his head, his body relaxed and blood began pouring from his head. Skye jumped over the body and ran behind Ward to undo the ropes. Ward rubbed his wrists as he stood up from the chair groaning while Skye looked around, looking for alternate ways to get out. Ward looked at her in complete shock, unable to make any sense from what just happened.

"What, how, I can't…HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT" Ward finally managed to say

"Ah yes well firstly, bad guys should know better than to tie your hands behind your back as you can't see what's going on, secondly pretending to struggle against a guy holding a needle makes sure they don't check what you're doing….and thirdly, well let's just say that this isn't the first time I have had to untie myself from somewhere" She blushed slightly with the last comment. Ward would have to remember to ask for more details later. They heard a bang and saw Lurch walking through the door.

"Damn forgot about you" Skye muttered. He raised his gun at the pair and Skye closed her eyes as she heard a shot being fired. After a couple of seconds she opened her eyes and saw Lurch looking dazed, as he collapsed in front of them, revealing a very pissed off looking Melinda May standing behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi guys, sorry it's been a while.

This is only a short chapter as I've had a bit of writers block so I figured I would give you what I have so far. I will hopefully be able update further next weekend.

Ward felt like a kid that had been called to the headmaster's office for fighting in class. He looked sheepishly down at his hands whilst Coulson sat in front of him staring at him with an emotionless expression. "I understand I told you to sort it out Ward and believe me I am glad that you have, I need my team to be running smoothly all the time. But would you care to explain to why you decided that was the perfect moment to do so" Ward would have preferred if he had sounded angry or disappointed in him, but somehow Coulson had managed to make his completely flat tone even more terrifying than he had imagined.

They had gotten back to the bus a couple of hours earlier and were heading across Europe on their way to Paris before heading back to the hub. After Simmons had determined that neither of their injuries were serious enough to require anything more than a good clean and some rest, Skye had retired to her bunk without a word and Ward had been physically dragged by his collar to Coulson's office by May. It was amazing how she could convey such anger with such little movement in her face. She was now standing in the corner of the office with her arms folded in her typical fashion

"I am so sorry sir" He mumbled, deciding it wasn't even worth defending himself

"Sorry, is that seriously all you have to say to me. You are a very good agent, one who should know better than to let his personal feelings get in the way of his job"

"I know, you are completely right sir. I don't know what happened out there, she wasn't saying anything. I know I complain about her constant talking sir but when she doesn't talk, it just freaks me out. I wanted to get everything out in the open before we went into the compound, I knew it would be crucial that she trust me. I just didn't think about the surrounding area"

Coulson sat down in his chair sighing "Ward I do understand where you are coming from, but next time you need to think. This was Skye's first mission and she was scared, she needed her S.O. to be there for her and help her through it. She may put up a tough exterior but she still needs us to help her. It's taken her a really long time to trust all of us and I hope that this isn't too much of a setback"

Ward nodded, it had been a rocky road with Skye and he hoped that this hadn't made her decide to give up on becoming a field agent "I understand sir, I will speak to her as soon as I can and I will talk to FitzSimmons, we can try and make it as stable for her as we can, at least for one night" Coulson nodded in agreement. He needed his team to run like clockwork, and wasn't happy when everyone was not ok. Skye had become a soft spot for him, he felt like a father figure to her and didn't like seeing her hurt.

"Right, now that is sorted. We managed to obtain the Chitauri tech that we were after while we were trying to get to you. It looks like they had taken one of the weapons and were trying to use it to develop similar weapons. We believe that they planned to sell these on to Centipede, no doubt to accompany their super soldiers" Ward shivered at the thought, the group were coming back like a tumour, just when they thought they had gotten them, another part sprung up from somewhere.

"Sir, I am a little concerned at how they knew so much about Skye and me" Ward looked concerned, getting their names would be easy but they seemed to know more than that, almost as if they had a front row into how the whole team operated.

"It concerns us too" Coulson's expression turned grim "From what you have said it sounds like someone, possibly at centipede has been providing them information on us, which means that more than likely they know we were there"

"How are centipede getting this information sir" May piped up from the corner "They are resourceful but this is on another level. Was there any sign of hacking into the system?"

"No May there wasn't, it's almost as if they walked in, took what they wanted and left without a trace. That means they are either extremely clever or we have a rat" Ward looked at the floor again, he was getting so frustrated that they were always one step ahead of them all the time and the idea that there was someone from the inside helping them, made the vision of one day taking them down seem even further away.

"We will get them Ward, I will see to that"

"How can you have so much faith sir?"

"I lived through an asguardian psychopath attacking me. If I got through that, I can get through anything"

Ward hated to admit it, he admired Coulson. He had known nothing but pain and trying to help but getting nowhere. He had grown up being told he couldn't do things and that he wasn't good enough. He failed to protect his younger brother and made him feel like a failure. Having faith like Coulson was a distant dream he had pretty much given up on. Getting up to leave, he said good night to Coulson who just mumbled in return and walked out with May.

"Thankyou for your help today Agent May" Ward muttered, sensing the tension still left over

"Don't get used to Agent Ward, and sort things out with Skye, before it gets worse" May said flatly

"We did talk about what was said and I think everything is ok now" He smiled hopefully, he hated being in Skye's bad books. He would rather face Coulson after touching Lola

"I don't mean the argument" With that May walked away, presumably to the cockpit leaving Ward looking confused. What else was going on? Had he missed something? His people skills weren't brilliant but he was usually quite intuitive. He shrugged it off, deciding that Skye would probably talk about it in the morning, and walked off to his bunk.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi everyone, sorry that this is later than I said, unfortunately my life got very hectic again. I haven't seen the new episode as the programming gods in the UK have decided to be cruel and deprive us from Agents of Shield till March. I have been reading the reviews the day after it airs in the US so I'm sort of up to date.

Thank you as always for the lovely reviews, it helps to know what you guys think of each chapter as this is the first fanfic I've written and the only thing that I have written that I have allowed people to read.

This is the second to last chapter and the last one is almost ready so you won't have to won't have to wait too long and I am thinking I may do a follow up but unsure at the moment.

* * *

Skye sat huddled up in her bunk, her arms wrapped round her knees in an almost foetal position, except for the half empty bottle of vodka in her hand. She had killed someone, taken the life from another human being. She knew that at some point this day would come, that's just the price you have to pay being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but it never occurred to her to think how it feels when you finally take that plunge. At the time she barely registered her actions, a mix of the adrenalin and the want to protect Ward from the Russian Mobsters was all she could focus on. It wasn't until they had gotten back to the bus and Ward was being yelled at by Coulson that it finally hit her what she had done. She didn't know the person she had killed, she didn't feel like she had the right to take someone's life away from them. She had seen the others kill frequently and they just brushed it off as if it meant nothing. Did this mean that she shouldn't become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?

She felt a fresh wave of tears roll down her cheeks and clutched the bottle tighter, she needed to be told that it was all going to be ok. She knew that despite it being late she could just knock on Ward's door and he would talk to her, but her insecurities were what got them into that mess and she didn't want to make a habit of him being yelled at by Coulson. The man could be pretty scary when he wanted to be and being in trouble with him made you feel like a little kid all over again. She wished that Coulson would put some of the blame on her, after all had she not been so inconsiderate, her and Ward would have been functioning normally and they would not have been captured. She started to feel hungry and got up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and headed to the kitchen area. It didn't look like anyone was up, it was very late after all, so she couldn't care less how she looked right now. When she reached the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of Ward reading silently in one of the chairs. She hated it when he did that, she was convinced that she was going to get wrinkles just from the countless times he had popped out of corners. She laid the bottle down as gently as she could while she grabbed something to eat, but a convenient moment of turbulence made the glass clang against the counter. She hissed under her breath and tried to scurry back to her bunk but it was too late, Ward was standing in front of her, looking like a Greek god in those tight t-shirts that would make any girl just melt.

"Skye what are you doing up? And why do you look like you've been crying" Ward said folding his arms. Great, it looked like the Grant she had gotten on the mission, that she had actually started to like, had turned back into the Agent Ward she had been used to. She mumbled something about being fine and tried to go round him but being evasive caused him to pick her and the bottle up and set her down on the sofa. "Hey, who gave you the right to throw me round like a rag doll?" She spat, feeling incredibly irritated by the constant switching of his personalities "I gave myself the right when you wouldn't answer the question, now what's going on" He shot her one of his authoritative looks that made her feel like a child "I don't know, I guess just everything that happened today, it just kind of hit me when we got back. I know that I am training to be a field agent and maybe it's just that I'm not cut out for this, but killing someone, it just feels like too much. I feel like I had no right to end that person's life but at the same time if I hadn't then he might have hurt us and I didn't want them to hurt you. I know it sounds stupid and I know I'm rambling but I don't know what else to do or think about what I did today" Skye felt the back of her eyes sting again and she wanted to get up and lock herself away in her bunk, Ward was her SO not her counsellor, and he probably couldn't care less what she was going through. After all, he was the mighty Grant Ward who was able to shrug off a bullet wound.

She felt something on her hands and opened her eyes to see Ward kneeling in front of her, holding her hands in his "Listen to me, just listen for a second no talking" He spoke more softly than he had done before, he felt more like the Grant she had the pleasure of meeting in that cell "It is perfectly normal to feel like this, it's hard when you kill someone for the first time, to get your head round the it's either them or me idea and try to figure out if it's the right move or not. That doesn't make you weak, if anything it shows what a good person you are. I know I had my doubts about you when you joined and I know I can be hard on you, but what you did today just proves that you have what it takes to do this and I have never been more proud of you. I am amazed that you did what you did to those guys and that you clearly had been paying attention when I have been trying to get into your head for weeks." Skye looked at him, tears now freely rolling down her face. Ward raised one of his hands to wipe a few of them away and left his hand lingering on the side of her face. She could feel the warmth from his palm radiate through her skin and it almost felt like this sensation was washing her pain away "Every agent feels like you do at some point in their career. Ask anyone on this plane. The difference is most of the time it happens when you have very few people to turn to, and you feel like you can't admit your weaknesses to anyone because as soon as you do you feel vulnerable and that is usually one thing that you can't allow yourself to be in this job. But you have us, all of us, and we are always going to be here if you need us" Grant was smiling up at her now and through the blurred vision of tears she tried to smile back. She threw her arms around Grant's neck who was a bit startled by this but tried to hug her back as much as he could for someone who didn't normally hug.

Ward felt a little embarrassed by what he had said to her, it was so much mushier than anything he would normally allow himself to think, let alone say out loud. However Skye managed to have this power over him, which allowed his usual stone cold persona to melt just a little bit every time he was in her presence. He had also taken on board what Coulson had said to him, he was her S.O and she needed him, and for some reason it was an amazing feeling to be needed for a change. They sat in each other's arms for what seemed like an eternity, neither of them daring to move. Eventually they parted a bit and looked at each other. What they both felt was like a lightning bolt between them, an attraction that they had both sub consciously buried never to be resurrected. Ward looked into her beautiful eyes and felt his chest tighten, wanting nothing more than to kiss her pain away and using everything he had to push down those feelings as much as he could. He was sure that this was what May was referring to with her very cryptic message earlier but he was positive that Skye didn't feel the same.

Ok so she flirted with him all the time and occasionally he thought that maybe she could but he got the feeling that she was like that with everybody and just brushed it off. He had spent many nights in his bunk, imagining what it would be like if she did feel the same way. He imagined what it would feel like to have her lips on his and how he would feel knowing that she was his. He felt like he had been staring at her for hours and it was probably making her uncomfortable but he was completely lost in her eyes. He secretly hoped that she had drunk enough to forget this portion of the conversation and only remembered the bit about stepping up as her S.O. that was all he was to her, right, nothing more. He kept repeating that in his head willing himself to stand up and go to bed, but had somehow lost control of how his legs worked.

Skye looked back at him, willing herself to say something, anything. She couldn't speak after what he had said and was now silencing her with the way he was looking at her. Why didn't he move?, she kept thinking to herself, while at the same time praying that he wouldn't just so she could look at him for a little bit longer. She never could quite get over just what a fine specimen of man he was and that fact coupled with the way he was looking at her now was almost too much for her to handle. Had she not been drinking, she would normally say something flirtatious and walk out of the room before she got herself in any trouble, but the power this man had over her made all coherent and intelligent decisions fly out of the window. She knew that she felt something for him and she was fairly certain that no other man staring at her had made her feel quite this way. But he was her S.O. and she knew that he didn't feel the same way. Even so she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be with a man like Grant, she'd seen how he was when he was taking down 'high risk targets', she could only begin to imagine what it would be like if the same energy would be directed at seducing her. Maybe it was the vodka or the man in front of her that she was drunk on because next thing she knew was that her arms were round him once more and she was kissing him with so much fire and passion that Ward was completely taken aback by what she was doing. As quickly as it had started it ended with Skye pulling back, looking scared like she had only just realised what she was doing. Ward opened and closed his mouth trying to think of what to say but nothing would come out of his mouth. He could see a look of rejection on Skye's face and he didn't want her to feel like he didn't want her, but at the same time he didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of her drunken and vulnerable state.

They both heard a noise and looked up to see a very uncomfortable looking Fitz standing there, unsure what the proper thing to do in this situation was. "Um sorry guys I didn't know you were up, I just needed some water" Fitz's entire head had gone bright red but he still stood there looking at them awkwardly. Skye mumbled something and ran off towards her bunk and Ward collapsed back down onto the sofa. He hated himself right now, he had finally had what he imagined realised and he acted like a complete idiot. He put his face in his hands as Fitz sat in the chair opposite, not really knowing what to do. Ward looked up and sighed "How much of that did you see"

"Enough" Fitz stated, quietly eating the pretzels he had somehow obtained in the middle of the whole ordeal

"I didn't handle that particularly well did I?"

"No, I don't think so, what the hell happened"

"She was upset and I was trying to be a good friend and loosen up as she is constantly telling me to do" Ward wanted to punch something, he couldn't really punch himself, although he wanted to. He was angry with himself and knew that she was probably angry with him too. He wouldn't be surprised if she never spoke to him again. The only sounds now where of Fitz trying to quietly munch on his pretzels and failing miserably.

"Did you want that to happen?" The question snapped Ward back into reality. He shot Fitz a look of 'of course I did but it can't happen'

"You know, I think if you talked to her about it, it might…"

"Fitz, she is my friend and I am her S.O. that is it" Ward snapped, he couldn't let what he had allowed to happen ruin the dynamic of the team.

Ward stomped off towards the gym to take out his frustrations on the punch bag but once he got down there he couldn't think of anything else but the way she had kissed him. Where did that even come from? He knew that she was feeling vulnerable probably wanted to feel happy about something but why him? He tried to shake it off, he knew that she was just drunk and upset and it didn't mean any more than that. But he couldn't escape the feeling that he had gotten when she kissed him. He wanted nothing more than to go back to her bunk, and make sure that she knew he wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, but he couldn't bring himself to. He laid into the punch bag as he came to terms that he was most definitely in love with his Rookie and he had screwed up his once chance to get her.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok this is my final chapter, sorry it took a while longer than I said but I wanted to spend some time on the ending. There is another note right at the end so please read

Skye awoke the next morning feeling like someone had repeatedly thrown a brick at her head. She groaned as she lay in her bunk, feeling like if she sat up she would more than likely fall over or throw up or both. She hadn't realised she had drunk quite as much as she did, and what made it ten times worse was that she had remembered every detail from the previous night. She had kissed Grant Ward and then run away. What the hell was the matter with her, she had tried so badly to keep herself from turning dream into reality and yet all it took was a bit of vodka and she threw herself at him. She knew the hangover was more than just a reaction to the amount she drunk, it was punishment for being such an idiot. Every time she closed her eyes, hoping it would be a bad dream, she saw herself jump on him, pull back and see him looking horrified. She wouldn't be surprised if he never spoke to her again.

The smell of coffee suddenly hit her and about two seconds later her bunk door opened, and Jemma appeared with coffee and every type of painkiller that the bus had. Skye tried to sit up and winced. Jemma tutted and set the mug down beside her.

"Fitz mentioned you might need this" She smiled. Skye wanted to hug her and tell her what an amazing friend she was, but it was too reminiscent of what she had done last night "Thanks Jem" was all that she could muster for the time being but made a mental note to thank her properly when she didn't feel like she was in the middle of brain surgery

"He also mentioned that you might need some girl talk but he wouldn't be specific on why" She raised her eyebrow looking at the hacker who had now curled up with her mug and had gone bright red

"I may have done something very stupid last night" she mumbled, trying to be as evasive as possible but Simmons continued to wait patiently for her to come out and admit it

"ImayhaveaccidentallykissedWard" She breathed out as quickly as she could, hoping that Jemma didn't hear her and wouldn't ask to repeat it. Jemma's eyes opened as wide as they could, so she did hear what Skye had said. Jemma coughed and tried to regain her composure

"Right, so you kissed Grant, how did you accidentally kiss him?"

"It involved a rather large amount of vodka and a deep conversation"

"But how did that lead to a kiss, did you walk into him?"

"No my drunken state did it on purpose, then my brain stepped in and stopped me but it was too late"

"Right" Jemma looked like she does when she's doing something sciencey "So you did actually deliberately kiss him, panic and then what?"

"I ran away" Skye looked sheepishly at her friend, she knew that Jemma was just trying to get her facts in order before telling her off for what she had done

"You ran away? Why?" This surprised Skye, she was expecting a lecture on thinking before you do anything when you've been drinking. Maybe her relationship with Fitz had turned her soft

"Because he looked at me like I had just set the plane on fire" Skye could feel the tears building up again, she knew what she had done was stupid but she couldn't ignore the disappointment she had felt when he clearly didn't want her. Jemma's expression softened, she could tell Skye was hurting but couldn't understand why Ward didn't reciprocate. She could tell that he had feelings for Skye but didn't want to do anything to harm their professional relationship.

"Did you want to kiss him?" Skye looked up and nodded, even though she was drunk she had wanted him so badly but at that time lacked the willpower to wait till the right moment.

"I wanted him to want me" Skye whispered. Jemma hated to see her like this, Skye was usually so bubbly and just let everything wash over her, she had rarely seen her so dejected and wanted nothing more than to make it better. She would hate Ward for doing this to her but she suspected that he was hurting just as much as Skye was.

"Did he say he didn't?" Skye shook her head

"He didn't have to, and then Fitz was just standing there so I just ran" Jemma rolled her eyes, silently remembering to talk to Fitz about judging the situation a bit better instead of being awkward

"Listen sweetheart, I'm sure it is not as bad as you think. I am positive that you two can sort this out, he probably just doesn't know how to handle it and is beating himself up as much as you are. I know he cares about you"

"But not in the way I do" Skye burst into tears "I heard him say it to Fitz, that he is nothing more than a friend and my S.O, he'll probably have to find me another one now, I doubt he will want anything to do with me now" Skye sobbed into her pillow. Jemma couldn't think of anything to say, she knew that what Ward had said was not true, he probably just couldn't admit to himself how he felt. She needed to speak to Ward, he needed to know that Skye was hurting and she needed him.

She mumbled something about going to get something for Skye to eat and walked out of the bunk. She barked at Fitz to make Skye a sandwich as she passed him in the corridor, and eventually found Ward at the punch bag. He looked exhausted and Jemma wondered if he had been there since what happened with Skye. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and shouted his name. Ward span round and almost fell over to find another person standing there, Skye must have really gotten to him, he was usually aware of what was going on around him.

"Ward can you come into the lab for a sec" Jemma asked softly, she knew that she had to tread carefully in this situation

"I'll be done in about 10 minutes Simmons can it wait?" Ward continued punching the bag, ignoring the pain that was now radiating from his knuckles

"Not really, lab now" He knew that she had spoken to Skye, she was only this bossy when it involved her surrogate sister "Now I would like you to just sit down for the moment and when I am done talking, only then are you allowed to give me both your explanation for last night and an idea on how to rectify it". Ward gawped at Simmons, he had never seen this side of her. He suddenly felt very sorry for Fitz.

"Now as I understand Ward, last night Skye was intoxicated and upset from the events of yesterday and you comforted her. Then she kissed you and you stood there looking at her like she had an extra limb and she got upset and ran off when it became apparent that Fitz was standing there. Is any of this untrue" Ward shook his head "And then when she ran off, Fitz tried to get you to own up and talk to her and you shouted across the plane that there was nothing between you and Skye. Now we both know that you were lying Ward and you can deny it all you want but I see the way you look at her. Now you can talk" Ward's mouth had gone completely dry, he was a trained S.H.I.E.L.D. specialist who was an expert in being interrogated and standing his ground but Simmons had managed to achieve what countless others had not. Ward thought about what he said, he knew what he had said to Fitz was a lie but judging by the look on Jemma's face, Skye had heard what he had said. He mentally kicked himself, he had already allowed her to think that he didn't love her by how he reacted to the kiss and now he probably had put her off the idea of being near him ever again. His attention was brought back to the sound of Jemma tapping her foot impatiently against the ground, he hated when women did that, it was so intimidating.

"I love her Jemma" He finally spoke, his heart beating so hard against his chest that it hurt "I know it's pointless to say otherwise in front of you because you clearly won't believe me. But it's true, and last night when she was upset, all I wanted to do was cheer her up, nothing more. I'm not the type of guy to try to and get with a girl when she's emotionally vulnerable. Skye deserves so much more than that, more than the idiotic things I've done so far" Jemma tried her best not to smile, even though she was lit up inside. She knew Ward loved Skye and she was secretly glad that he hadn't wanted to take advantage of her. But she had given herself the role of Skye's sister and it was her job to give Ward the talking to only a sister can do.

"Ward as you probably know she heard what you said and she thinks that you are angry with her for what she did. She thinks you hate her" Jemma put her hand on Ward's shoulder who was now looking sorrowfully at the floor. "What do I do?" Ward felt completely lost, another feeling he was not used to and he wished that part of his training had involved how to deal with all of this stuff. He was not good with people in general but Skye took it to another level. "I think you need to decide whether or not if you want a relationship with Skye right now and then go and tell her that" Simmons grabbed his arm and walked him over to the lab doors "And what if she doesn't want one?" Simmons could see the pleading in his eyes, to give him something to suggest that going after Skye wasn't going to be a waste of time. She smiled and pushed him out the lab, she knew that if he was going to hear it from anyone it had to be Skye.

Ward turned and walked slowly up the spiral staircase, his heart heavy with all the decisions he had to make and what Simmons had said to him. He wanted Skye more than anything and was willing to fight for her. He sucked at relationships and knew that he would have to work extra hard at it but he had finally found the person that made him want to work at the more human aspect of life. But she had heard what he had said to Fitz and she had interpreted the surprise in his eyes when she kissed him as rejection, after all of that would she still want him? He had hurt her so much the last few days and he had done nothing but push her away. He prepared himself for the reality that he may not be forgiven and in all honesty, he could handle that. If he couldn't be more to Skye as a result of what he had done then he was determined to be a better friend to her. Skye at least deserved to have that.

Ward reached the bunks and was surprised to see Coulson emerging from Skye's holding a sheet of paper. Coulson looked at Ward and shook his head, handed him the bit of paper and walked off, clearly exhausted from the drama that had been going on the last few days. Ward entered Skye's bunk and looked around to see the whole thing empty. Even her little hula doll was gone. He looked at the note to see the confirmation that she had left the bus. She was gone and it was all his fault. He looked around the bunk to see if there was any clue of where she might be, he had to find her and bring her back. It had become like a home for all of them and without Skye it just felt empty.

"How the hell did she manage to turn it off?!" Coulson yelled, pacing up and down the lab "It was supposed to be impossible"

"This is Skye after all Sir, she's capable of a lot of things" Simmons muttered, wiping the tears that were left on her cheeks. Fitz put his arms round Simmons, he hated seeing her like this. They heard the lab doors open and the whole team turned round to see Ward, his eyes black with anger and his fists clenched. May walked up to him "Ward you need to calm down, this isn't you" She put her hand on his arm, only for it to be swatted away. The whole team took a step back, memories from their own encounters with Ward's berserker rage now flashing in their minds

"I don't care about what any of you think or want to say to me right now, find her. I'm taking the SUV and going to check the train stations" Grant growled at them, he was angry enough with himself at the moment and didn't need any more negativity. He stormed off, jumped in the car and drove off, tyres screeching as he reversed out of the plane. The rest of the team glanced at each other, unsure what to do next. Fitz cleared his throat "I might be able to find her, she taught me some of her hacking stuff a couple of weeks ago, I may be able to undo whatever she's done and reactivate the bracelet" he announced to the room and began typing at the computer furiously.

Skye hauled her bag as she walked through the Paris streets. She had no idea what she was doing, any sane person would have headed to the train station or something. She knew she had to leave, she had made everyone's lives more complicated by being on the team. Yet as she wandered round Paris, avoiding running away like she had planned after Fitz had left her with a sandwich. She managed to sneak out of the plane while Jemma was lecturing Ward. Now she was terrified of the thought, she had finally found herself some assemblance of a family and she was struggling to let them go, even if she knew it was for the best. She was really going to miss FitzSimmons, they were like siblings to her and Jemma had become her best friend. Coulson was like a father to her and May, well she wasn't sure what May was to her but she liked having her there.

Skye had been walking through Montmartre, a little area outside Paris that she had always wanted to go to ever since she saw Moulin Rouge for the first time. She liked going to places that were a little less known, she always found more interesting things that way than following guide books. Skye figured while she was figuring out her next move, she may as well try and see a bit of the city that she was in. She rounded the corner and found herself looking at the buildings from her memories. She walked over to a bench and sat down, the warmth of the sun washing over her, thawing some of the sadness she felt from the day's events. She looked over and watched a few children playing on an old carousel. She smiled as she heard them squealing with excitement and the laughing of their families watching them. She wished for that when she was growing up and now the only thing close to a family was gone. She had prepared herself for this at the beginning but she had let them all in, her guard was down and now she felt the same way she had every time a foster family returned her.

"I doubt they've even noticed that I've gone" She muttered, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek

"Now we both know that's not true" Skye jumped about a foot of the bench and span round to see Ward standing behind her

"What…how…I" She spluttered. Ward sighed and moved her bag so he could look at her.

"Skye why did you run away" He slipped his hand over hers and she looked down at her lap. She shrugged in response, not really knowing what to say to him. His heart broke to see her like this, she usually had an answer for everything, it was one of her quirks that both annoyed him and made him love her even more. He shuffled up to her a bit more, trying his hardest not to seem like the robot she always called him

"Skye when I realised you were gone, it hurt me, it hurt everyone. Simmons is inconsolable without you, you know you're like a sister to her. Coulson and May are losing the plot without you and Fitz is trying to be brave but he's basically a child so you can probably guess how well that's going" Skye half chuckled through the tears she was desperately trying to hold back, she could imagine Fitz trying to be brave for his girlfriend and saying pretty much everything wrong. Ward raised his other hand to wipe a tear off Skye's face and raised her head so she was now looking at him.

"Listen to me Skye, I know things have been weird between us for a few days and I really want to try to solve it. You are the best thing that could have happened to the team. In the brief time before you, we weren't really a team. Just a few people shoved onto a plane by a man with a superhero complex"

"They are better off" Skye finally mumbled, allowing the tears to flow freely from her eyes now, not caring that a few people in the square were looking at her very strangely. Ward let go of her hand and raised his to meet the other one and clutched her face, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Now you listen to me, don't you dare think that for even a second. We all need you Skye, way more than you think. I need you. I know that I have handled things really badly but I need you in my life, I cannot imagine a world without you in my life now. You have turned my world upside down but I have loved every moment" Skye gawped at him, he needed her, since when? He had made it clear from every moment since they had met that he was perfectly happy being alone.

"But what I did, I mean I obviously made things awkward between us and is that something we can get past I mean how are you supposed to be my S.O now? won't it be weird" Skye's voice cracked as she spoke, she desperately wanted to come out and say everything that she had been feeling to him but she had her guard up, she didn't think her heart could take any more rejection. Ward loosened his grip on her face and leaned a little bit closer

"Who said I wanted to move past it" He smiled and closed the gap between them. Skye felt a jolt of electricity as Ward crashed his lips against hers. Her heart beat hard against her ribcage as she felt a mix of excitement and nervousness course through her veins. He pulled away and leant his forehead against hers, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Skye's face beamed, she couldn't believe that Grant Ward just kissed her.

"I have wanted to do that for such a long time" He whispered, drawing a circle with his thumb on her hand. Skye opened her mouth to talk but Ward put his finger to her lips "I know what you're going to say, why didn't I do that the other night" Skye nodded and sat up, waiting for the explanation for what happened the previous night. Ward sighed and tried to build up the courage to say what was needed, he really hoped that she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Skye last night, you were upset and it was completely understandable. The first time I killed someone I locked myself in a bathroom for 6 hours and sat on the floor of the shower" Ward blushed, he had never let anyone but his S.O who found him know this secret. Skye's eyes widened as she made a mental note to remember that for future use "Just before you kissed me I was imagining you would, what it would be like. And then you did and I just froze, for a couple of seconds I wasn't even sure it happened, almost like I had gotten carried away with my own imagination. Then once my brain had caught up, I knew I couldn't take advantage of you when you were drunk and upset. But by the time I was in a position to talk Captain Fitz and his army of awkwardness and pretzels had completely ruined the moment"

"Now look who has a superhero complex" Skye giggled, it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Ward kissed the top of her head

"Come on Rookie, let's go back" He stood out reaching for her hand. Skye looked nervously at him and stayed in her seat "Will they even let me back" Skye mumbled. Ward picked up her bag and swung it over his shoulder and then grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him and planted another passionate kiss on her lips. Skye smiled as she realised that was all she needed to answer her question.

"SKYEEEEEEEEE" a scream was heard across the airfield and a very excited Jemma Simmons could be seen running across the cargo bay at high speed as Ward and Skye pulled in. "Oh god" Skye muttered, looking very worried "I'm going to get squashed"

"Don't worry it looks like Fitz is reigning her in"

"Don't let her hear you say that, she will poison your food" Skye prodded Ward in the ribs. They pulled into cargo area where the whole team was standing, well everyone but Jemma who was bouncing on the spot and May who was probably at the stick.

"Skye I was so worried and I am so glad you are back" Jemma launched herself at Skye as she got out of the car, almost tackling her to the ground but Ward had managed to get round the car quick enough to support the two girls before they injured themselves.

"Good to have you back Skye" Coulson smiled at the scene in front of them. Skye managed to pry Jemma off her and walked sheepishly over to Coulson. "About the bracelet, I ..."

"Don't worry about it, I think now is the time it came off anyway" Skye threw her arms round Coulson who stood awkwardly for a second but patted her on the back and walked off to his office no doubt for some peace and quiet

"I think we should do a welcome home thing for Skye" Jemma squeaked. Fitz clapped in agreement and ran off excitedly, the words Disney and cupcakes occasionally being heard. Skye laughed at the pair "I've only been gone for a few hours" Ward came up behind Skye and put his arms around her "That just proves what I was trying to say Skye, we all need you" Skye smiled and turned round and put her arms round Wards neck and pulled him down into a kiss "I guess I just needed to be reminded of that" She interjected in between kisses.

"Now Miss Skye, I seem to remember there being some mention of ropes?" Ward stood up, grinning seductively as Skye's eyes darkened and she pressed herself against him. She took his hand and began to lead him up the stairs.

"Oh sweetie you have no idea"

Well that's it. Thank you for all your support through this, it was my first ever attempt at fanfiction and I have never let anyone read what I have written before so I was really pleased with the response. Honestly I was expecting no one to read it.

I am planning to do a bit of a smutty one shot following up to this story about Skye and Wards "reunion". I am also thinking about another story set some time after this which will be a bit more FitzSimmons centric as I love these two so please let me know if this is something you would like to see.

The link below is just a link to google images for the carousel. I went to see this when I was about 10 and loved it and I thought it summed up how Ward and Skye just keep going round and round each other that and I really couldn't think of anything else for a title

. /search?q=carousel+near+the+sacre+coeur&rls= :en-GB:IE-Address&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=dZ4MU5rPD6ed7gb4-4D4DQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1301&bih=641#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-DY8I5c2MGBiQM%253A%3BXMnHNytR4MNRbM%3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252F5457%252F6924851012_9afcd6b720_ %3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252Fphotos%252Fdesignwallah%252F6924851012%252F%3B1000%3B667


End file.
